


It Started at Sina's

by titanfucker69



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, F/M, M/M, coffee shop AU, ereri, jeanmarco, springles - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-01-26 06:33:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1678289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titanfucker69/pseuds/titanfucker69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi hated everything. He hated college. He hated working at the 'trendiest' coffee shop around. He hated having to stand behind a counter and attempt to play nice with the disagreeable consumers who barked orders at him. He hated every customer who ever stepped foot into Sina's. Every single one of them has made him lose any ounce of hope he had left for humanity. Especially those filthy, ungrateful teenagers that had nothing better to do than hang out at Levi's place of employment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Old Friends and Sick Jokes

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! This is my first fanfic that I will be publishing on here, but I will be doing my best. Any feedback would be appreciated!

"Hi, welcome to Sina's," Levi monotonously repeated this phrase numerous times throughout the day.

He no longer bothered to offer the customers a smile, as his grins always displayed pain rather than cheeriness. It was not that he despised it— well, that was a lie. Levi despised just about everything. However, he had to be the tiniest bit thankful for being hired. There were many students his age who would kill for a chance to work at Sina's. The pay was nice, and the atmosphere was always warm. Chipper baristas, buzzing teenagers chatting away over a caramel frappe...

With that being said, Levi did not fit in with the crowd at all. The manager would always walk by to remind him that a smile was apart of the Sina uniform, but it made no difference. Besides his gloomy appearance, the raven haired male was one of the most efficient workers they had. Even as a trainee, he never made a single mistake. Maybe that was another reason why he did not completely hate Sina's; working there seemed to be the only thing he was good at.

_Hah, what a useless skill._

Work hardly ever clashed with his classes at the local community college, making it easy for Levi to maintain a steady pay and decent grades. On this particular day, he would be starting his shift in the early morning, and ending at closing time. The mornings were not so bad, being the slowest time at Sina's, but Levi's peace would soon be interrupted around three in the afternoon. School for the younger crowd was released at two thirty. As a recent alumni and frequent name on Sina's payroll, this fact was still, unfortunately, etched into his memory.

The clock on the wall read three 'o clock on the dot when the first handful of high school students arrived.

"If Erwin were here, he'd tell you to smile," The amused whisper of his only friend at Sina's filled Levi's ear.

"And he'd tell you to go do your job and stop telling me how to do mine," He mumbled to Hanji, who merely replied with a giggle before going back to her station.

Levi found Hanji (for lack of a better term) quite annoying. Then again, he was not the most pleasant person to deal with most of the time. She was not someone Levi thought he would ever willingly spend time with, but the two have been inseparable since freshman year of high school. This was all thanks to Hanji clinging onto him upon realizing that he never talked to anyone in class. By sophomore year, he realized that she would not be leaving his side anytime soon, and he accepted it.

Truthfully though, Levi was somewhat thankful that Hanji approached him during their first week back at school. He would never admit it, of course, but she introduced him to people that he could consider friends. Petra, Mike, Oluo, Eld, Gunther, and Erwin... he met all of them due to Hanji. Unlike Levi, she had the ability to befriend anyone of her choosing. She was well-liked and popular, albeit eccentric. The two were total opposites, and to this day, he still questions why someone like her worked so hard to make his high school experience tolerable.

"Oh! And decide where we're going for lunch. You're buying," Hanji called from her position.

She handled Levi's indecisiveness by commanding him instead of asking him. If she were to ask, he would most likely give an answer along the lines of, "I don't care", forcing Hanji to decide. This then led to evident brooding from Levi if her choice did not match his taste.

"Fine, just get to work".

And with that, the first batch of young customers arrived at the counter. It was the usual crowd that came in almost everyday, he knew a couple of them by name. Only two years their senior, he recalled having a class or two with some of them. He never brought it up, having no desire to strike up a conversation with any of the young ones. In spite of this fact, at least one of them always managed to get a word or two out of him. That person always seemed to be Jean, the unofficial leader of their group who was usually the first to order.

Today, he had his arm draped over a freckled boy with a shy expression. The two were constantly at each other's sides. The kid with the shaved head would pester them with comments such as, "You two should just date already!", to which they would respond with denial and embarrassment. Levi supposed they finally took his advice.

"Yo, Levi!" The arm snaked around Freckles's neck went to Jean's side. "Let me get two medium coffees. Cream and sugar in the first one, but nothing in the second one".

"I didn't know you were on a first name basis with him," Freckles pointed out.

"Yeah! Me n' Levi have been cool for a while. We had guitar together. Right, Levi?"

Cool? Since when was he ever 'cool' with Jean? They were paired together for one duet assignment during Levi's junior year, then they never really spoke again. Levi did not bother looking up from the register. Instead, he replied with a slow, halfhearted nod.

"This is Marco, by the way. He's my guy, so don't get any ideas," Jean laughed.

So Freckles had a name. Levi responded with the price of their order. Change was given, and the couple left to take their order from the other side of the counter. He could still hear them discussing their encounter.

"Are you sure you're friends? He didn't seem very... friendly," Marco commented uneasily.

"Nah, Levi's like that with everyone. He's kinda weird, but he's alright," Jean assured him.

No, that was wrong, for the most part. Levi was not much of a talker, that much was true, but he _did_ talk to the people he actually had interest in. Jean was not one of them.

The rest of them ordered until the last three from the group approached the counter: a quiet blond boy, and two others who only occasionally joined the group. From what Levi could understand from their loud conversations, the boy had a job that required him to work most of the time after school, and the girl standing next to him would not come unless he was there.

The blond ordered and went on his way. The girl was now up. She spoke in such a serious and reserved tone, it almost reminded Levi of himself. He did not dwell on this after she handed him the money needed. Before leaving to pick up her iced coffee, she turned to the boy and declared she would save him a seat next to her.

"Yeah, thanks Mikasa," He smirked before turning to Levi. The girl's name was Mikasa. Would he remember that fact? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

As soon as he was greeted by the cashier's pleasant phrase, he bursted into a fit of laughter.

"What the hell was that?!" He wiped a tear from his eye.

Levi gritted his teeth at the unnecessary overreaction.

"Sorry, but how did you even get a job here? Aren't the cashiers supposed to be... I don't know, happy? Jean was right, You really are a weird!"

Still, no response from the man behind the register.

"I'm Eren. You're Levi, right? I used to see you around school a lot. How's college life treatin' ya?"

No answer.

"Must not be very good since you look so unhappy".

No answer.

"You're supposed to speak when people talk to you. This is horrible customer service".

Finally, Levi looked up. This kid had his heart set on getting at least one word out of him. Maybe Eren would finally leave if he entertained his attitude.

"I speak when it is required. Conversing with bratty children is not in my job description".

"Bratty children? We're only two years younger than you. You're kind of an asshole, but it's sort of funny!"

No answer.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone and order. My friends might get suspicious if I hang around here too long. They might think I'm trying to hit on you, or something," Eren chuckled, giving his order to Levi.

"I should try coming here more often. You're fun to talk to".

Was that Eren's idea of a joke? Levi hardly spoke one word aside from his blatant insult. His cheeky attitude and disregard for common courtesy made Levi thankful that they never crossed paths when he attended Saint Maria High. He came to the conclusion that out of everyone in the bunch, he hated Eren the most. Jean was now moved to number two, and the rest were left unranked. He did not care enough to actually make a list, but the biggest assholes stood out the most.

"Levi, quit flirting with the customers! We break in ten minutes, so I hope you decided," Hanji sang.

"Yeah, I decided where we're going".

Hanji beamed with satisfaction before she returned to mixing ingredients.

"Somewhere far away from here," He muttered to himself before greeting the next customer.


	2. High School Antics

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of short and kind of sucky, but I wanted to do a quick update today.

"We're going on break!" Hanji announced.

By now, everyone knew that the 'we' in that sentence meant her and Levi. As the two left their positions from behind the counter, the other workers shifted to fill the temporary voids. A petite and awfully adorable young girl took Levi's place, causing him to wonder why she was not manning the register full time instead of himself. His musings did not last much longer. Hanji was quick to give him a rough pat on the back to pull him back into reality.

"Quit dragging your feet. We only have forty-five minutes," She reminded him.

Levi rubbed the spot on his back where her hand's impact still lingered. He glared daggers at the taller girl following close at his heels, but turned around without a word. Levi's favorite group of rowdy customers still claimed a large area by the entrance. Right. He could still avoid contact with them. He would simply slip by the door unnoticed and—

"Levi!"

_God dammit._

"Are you going on break?" Eren asked, jogging over towards him.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," His eyes focused everywhere but Eren's face.

"Well, I'll probably be gone by the time your back. It's only polite that I say bye to you".

"No, the polite thing to do would be ceasing your harassment. It's annoying and childish".

"I'm not trying to be funny! I really do wanna be your friend. I think you're cool, even for someone so short!"

Levi clenched his fists tightly, resisting the urge to knock the earnest expression off his face. His feelings for Eren went far beyond hatred now. This was all a joke to him. His idea of fun was pissing off strangers who clearly had no desire to be the punchline to his antics. Levi's palms twitched, begging to strike the nearest target, but he would not give Eren that satisfaction. He would not allow a bratty child to relish in the fact that he managed to get under Levi's skin within a matter of minutes. Instead, he shoved his way past him, not uttering a single vowel.

"You're taking it too far, Eren," He heard a feminine voice state as he exited Sina's

As expected, Eren's benevolence was all an act in order to elicit a reaction from Levi that his clique deemed amusing. He had been out of high school for a year now, and was not about to be sucked back in. These children would not have that power.

"Mingling with the customers, Levi?" Hanji raised an eyebrow at him when the two reached the outdoors together.

"Tch".

She laughed, throwing an arm around his neck as the two walked down the strip of stores and restaurants.

"I saw you having a conversation with him at the counter too," She added.

"Does it really count as a conversation if I didn't respond?"

"You should try being nicer to him. He seems pretty genuine".

"No".

Even if Eren was being serious, Levi had more than enough friends. But, if Levi did miraculously put himself on the market in search of new companions, Eren would not even be an option. Ah, why was he putting so much thought into this encounter? Why was it getting on his nerves? Levi was so entrapped in his own petty emotions, he hardly realized Hanji's pestering.

"Are you even listening? I asked where we're going three times now!"

"The last restaurant on this side".

"You're just trying to get far away from Sina's, aren't you?" The hand over his shoulders reached up to pinch his cheek.

Levi swatted the invasive action away.

"Is it because of your new friend?"

"I would never consider him a friend".

"You're getting your panties in a twist over nothing. Is it so hard to believe that someone wants to talk to you? Didn't we become friends in a similar way?"

"You're comparing two completely different things, Hanji".

"It's not different at all!"

"I have enough friends".

"You're hopeless," Hanji sighed, opening the door of the restaurant and allowing Levi to enter first.


	3. Discomfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh man i'm so sorry this took so long!! i was almost done with the chapter when my laptop got all screwed up and i lost the work so i got a little frustrated and stopped ahahha okok but anyways ch 3 is here :oo. also click on the link thingy to see the texts!!

The digital time in bold red indicated that it was twelve in the afternoon. Although Levi got a full eleven hours of sleep, his half shut eyelids and perpetual dark circles said otherwise. On Wednesdays, the community college student attended only one class at night, giving him the whole day to work. However, on this particular day, he was not scheduled to come in. Most would be excited for a day off, but it was never like that with Levi. He couldn't remember the last time he felt emotions that strayed from negativity or neutrality. He was not fond of working, but it was a part of his life he accepted, and made no effort to brood over it.

Levi inhaled sharply as he rose from the bed, preparing for his 'morning' ritual. On days when he had nothing better to do, the barista usually took a jog around his apartment complex to pass the time. This also made him feel less guilty about not fulfilling his New Years resolution of becoming a member of the local gym. Levi reached in the deepest depths of his drawers to pull out a raggedy white t-shirt and gray sweatpants. Adequate workout attire in his eyes.

After a quick breakfast of yogurt with flakes of granola, he began to head out, but not before plucking his phone from the kitchen counter where he left it charging before going to sleep. Unlike most people, who tended to keep their phones charged on their nightstands, Levi left it wherever he deemed convenient. In all honesty, he could not care less about the whereabouts of the thing. The latest phone model was something that he never thought to be important. Mostly because he never really had anyone to talk to. But it was only when he graduated did he decide that it was time to upgrade. His parents informed him that paying his own phone bill was a huge part of transitioning to adulthood. Thus, Levi saw this as an opportunity to switch out his Razr to something a bit less obsolete. Another reason he bought the used iPhone to stop Hanji from complaining about his flip phone that stayed with him since middle school. And speak of the devil—

[Hanji had been bombarding his phone with messages since ten o'clock in the morning](http://oi59.tinypic.com/2cpopox.jpg). In addition to that, there was a missed call and voicemail from Erwin. Right, he returned from his trip from the Bahamas last night. Every year, his family went on a trip there for a week, and Erwin would always return with souvenirs and hourlong stories of his trips. Even after the blond graduated, the family tradition still stood. Erwin was most likely calling to inform Levi that he returned (just in case he may have forgotten), and discuss parts of his trip with him. In order to have a conversation with Erwin, it requires a cleared schedule for at least an hour or so. He would deal with his two dearest friends after his jog.

Levi decided that he would take today's jog out of the complex. He shoved the keys to his house and his wallet in his pocket before exiting the comfort of his one bedroom apartment. If he traveled far enough, he could find a small restaurant to have lunch in before heading back home. The only options he had at home were Ramen and frozen pizza, which were both fine with him, but not so much with his stomach. Levi put two earbuds in before starting his trek.

It started with a jog, which soon changed to a run, then back to a jog in order to give his breathing time to regulate. This pattern of jog-running went on for about an hour until he reached a hardly recognizable plaza. It was not a far driving distance from his house, but still an area he only rarely visited. Mainly because he distinctly remembered it being a hot hangout spot for kids at his school, and Levi did not want to risk getting caught up with a few blasts from the pasts. If it weren't for his stomach and lack of saliva pleading for him to enter the nearest restaurant, he would have walked a bit further. _He should have walked a bit further..._

The only real restaurant there was a relatively small burger place according to the large sign in the front that contained a list of shops. Patting his back pocket to reassure that his wallet was still in the same position, Levi pulled the earbuds from his ears as he approached the bundle of various stores. A group of teens was loitering in front of the place, laughing at an obnoxiously loud volume over something that was most likely only borderline laughable. If the annoying gaggle of high school students wasn't enough to make Levi turn and leave, it was the fact that the group was full of irritatingly familiar faces. Jean, the boy with the shaved head, a tall blond, a shorter blonde female, and of course... Eren. Oh, if only he walked further and ignored his body's wishes.

"Levi!" The sound of Jean's voice made him cringe.

Levi had time to run, but knowing that kid, he'd probably chase after him. He wouldn't mind taking those chances, but he wasn't sure if he really had the stamina to continue. His only option now was to stand there and endure whatever unintentional pain Eren had to offer.

"Did you just say Levi?" Eren's head perked up, and the two briefly left their group to greet him.

There he stood, unsure of how he should respond in such a situation. It was easy to keep up his aloof demeanor when he was behind the counter of Sina's, but everything felt different out in the open like this. What was this feeling? Discomfort, probably.

"Yo, Levi! What's happenin'? I didn't know you hung out around these parts. What are you doing here?" Jean asked. Surprisingly, Eren was speechless for the time being. Was he feeling the same levels of discomfort as well?

"Don't you have school?" Levi asked, tone far from interested.

"Oh, yeah! We do but.. we sort of dipped during our lunch period," Jean stated almost a bit too proudly. "And if you're wondering where Marco's at—" he wasn't, "he doesn't skip class. He sort of cares about his grades a lot. He's a fuckin' nerd".

The boy with the shaved head slapped a hand on Jean and Eren's shoulders before chiming in, "Yeah, but isn't that why you like him so much?"

"Eh, screw off Connie," Jean's gaze traveled to the pavement below them. An odd reaction from Jean, considering he boasted about Marco being 'his guy' just a few days ago.

"Oh yeah, that's Connie, if you didn't already know. And the two hanging back there are Reiner and Annie. We're the only ones who aren't complete chicken shit. The rest of our friends apparently care about school or whatever. Crazy, huh?" Jean chuckled before waving the two over. They exchanged glances before joining the newly formed circle.

"Guys, this is Levi. You guys know him from Sina's, but he's a pretty good friend of mine—"

That was it. Levi would only go along with Jean and Eren's little joke for so long. If getting under his skin was their goal, then he would have to congratulate them, because they were just about to find out how well they accomplished their mission.

"No, I'm not your friend. We hardly talked when I was in school, and I don't plan on changing that. I don't know what you and your little buddy want from me, but just leave me the hell alone, alright?" And before Jean could respond, he shoved his way past the circle and carried on with his original plan to grab a quick lunch before going home.

He reached for the handle to the restaurant, only to be stopped by something grabbing ahold of the white fabric clinging to his back. Levi turned around, hardly shocked to find out that it was Eren.

"Levi" He panted as if it took a marathon worth of running to catch up to him. Pathetic. "Sorry about what happened back there. It's my fault. I only wanted to screw around with you at first, so I asked Jean to act all chummy 'cause I heard how much of a weirdo you were. But then I thought you were pretty cool, so I told him to keep it going so maybe you'd warm up to him or something, then eventually warm up to the rest of us. But Jean's a genuine guy. He thinks you're pretty cool, and so do I. And if you want, you can chill with us for a little".

Levi eyed Eren, searching for a sign that this was all an extension to his elaborate prank that would evidently lead to wasted energy on Levi's end. He could not find anything off about his spiel, causing Levi to become even more annoyed with him.

"I'd rather die," Levi spat before entering the burger joint and leaving Eren to cope with the harsh reply.

 


End file.
